Working with Mozilla source code

Documentation topics

Getting the code from the Mercurial repository

If you plan to contribute to the Mozilla project, the best way to get the code is to check it out from the version control repository.  Learn how to do that here.

Downloading the code using HTTP or FTP

If you want to fetch the code for a specific release of a particular Mozilla product, you may prefer to download a source code archive.

Viewing and searching Mozilla source code online

Learn how to use MXR, Mozilla's online search and browsing tool for accessing the source code.  This isn't a good way to download the code, but is a great way to search it.

Navigating the Mozilla source code

Learn about the various folders in the Mozilla source tree, and how to find what you're looking for.

Bugs for newcomers

If you are new to the project and want something to work on, look here.

Mozilla Coding Style Guide

The code style guide provides information about how you should format your source code to ensure that you don't get mocked by the reviewers.

Interface development guide

Guidelines and documentation for how to create and update XPCOM interfaces.

Try Servers

Mozilla products build on at least three platforms. If you don't have access to them all, you can use the try servers to test your patches and make sure the tests pass.

Creating a patch

Once you've made a change to the Mozilla code, the next step (after making sure it works) is to create a patch and submit it for review. This article needs to be updated fully for Mercurial.

Getting commit access to the source code

Feel ready to join the few, the proud, the committers?  Find out how to get check-in access to the Mozilla code.

Getting older Mozilla code from CVS

Older versions of the Mozilla source code, as well as the current versions of NSS and NSPR, are kept in a CVS repository.  Learn about that in this article.